What is a social media background check?

This background check invoives using social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, or other social channels to help determine the suitability of a candidate. The process can be a quick search on these channels to see what shows up, or it can be an in-depth check of multiple social media platforms. You can contract an outside organization to do background checks for you or hire someone full-time to do thorough social media background checks for your organization.

Why should you do a social media background check?

Employers or hiring managers often prefer conducting social media screening because it’s a faster way of getting information about a candidate beyond the resume. You may perform a social media background check to review how a candidate conducts themselves online.

When conducting a social media background check, the best place to start your search is on their LinkedIn profile (unless you were already recruiting from LinkedIn). Otherwise, you can use Linkedin to check whether information on a resume, such as work experience, educational qualifications, and skills, match their LinkedIn profile. If there are any discrepancies, this would be a good opportunity to raise them with the candidate or investigate further.

All professions require a person to be transparent and uphold certain ethical standards inside and outside of this office. Police Officers, for example, need to uphold all levels of the law outside of work. They need to be examples for other civilians. If researching a Police Officer job applicant’s social media unearths photos of them doing things like defacing public property or using recreational drugs, then they are not a good fit for the role.

Another reason social media screening may be required is, if the role requires specific subject matter expertise. It may be worth searching to be sure they are contributing factual and correct information to blogs, Twitter, or LinkedIn posts.

Lastly, the best time to conduct a social media background check is if you are planning on hiring a social media coordinator, specialist, or manager. This is the best way to make sure the candidate you are looking to hire actually knows what they are talking about. Look for someone that is active on the platforms your company plans on using.

Risks of checking a candidate’s social media accounts

Before you begin conducting social media background checks on every candidate that you’re considering for a role it’s important to understand the pros and cons of doing so.

First and foremost you need to consider privacy laws. Privacy legislation in Canada states that employers need to get consent from a candidate before collecting any kind of personal information about them online. The rules vary depending on the province or territory your company is in, so be sure to research that before beginning your search. Most of the legislation within Canada requires an employer to not only get consent but to also only collect information that is required. As an employer, you must also be sure to collect information that is up-to-date and complete.

Another drawback of conducting a social media background check is the risk of collecting inaccurate information. Some people don’t use their real names on social media. When researching a candidate online it can sometimes be difficult to find their exact profiles for this reason. This could lead to you researching the wrong individual and making assumptions based on someone else.

Lastly, depending on how social media savvy and private the candidate wants to be you may not be able to find them at all. Many people use pseudonyms or keep their profiles private. That means even if you do end up finding the right profile, you likely won’t get any information anyway.

Tips for conducting a social media background check

Once you have decided whether or not a social media background check is required for an applicant, there are a few things you should do to ensure your search is successful. Some tips on how to start your search include:

Search for them on Google

When conducting a social media background check, the best place to start is to simply Google the person’s name. If they use their real name for their social media profiles you should see most of their profiles pop up here. If there are other people with the same name, try to use the information found in their resume to confirm which is their profile. If you can’t confirm it’s the same person, you’re best to use another method.

Though, using Google will also give you a better understanding of where this individual has contributed as a subject matter expert, if at all. Look through blogs, press releases, or forums to get a better understanding of their thought process of how knowledgeable they are about your industry or their particular job function.

Check their LinkedIn

Another option is LinkedIn (unless you used LinkedIn for recruitment). This is the best place to double-check they have included the most accurate information on their resume. As you look through their profile, be sure to see if you have any mutual connections. This may be a good time to ask someone you know what their feedback is on the candidate.

Be sure to look at the skills section of LinkedIn as well. This is where a lot of colleagues, past employers, or clients have provided valuable feedback about the competency of the individual. Take a look at the skills that have been endorsed the most to determine if they match up with what you are looking for in your ideal candidate.

If available, the references section is also a great place to look for more feedback on the applicant. Often these references are different from the ones they might provide you as part of the interview process. This way you are getting more of an endorsement for the individual and may be able to better understand how they work.

Lastly, take a scroll through the associations and groups they are members of. This will give you a good idea about how invested and involved the applicant is in the industry or position you are hiring them for.

Check their Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and any other social media they have

Generally speaking, these platforms are used for getting a sense of what the applicant is like outside of work. Don’t spend too much of your time here. If you are using these platforms to research the individual, be sure to double-check the profile to make sure it’s actually the applicant you are looking for.